Kris Meeke dominates Monte-Carlo Rally shakedown

Chris Meeke remembered everyone fondly this Thursday morning on the shakedown course of the Rally Monte Carlo. On the 3,35 km drawn near Gap, and on the dry asphalt, the new driver Toyota Gazoo Racing carried out his best passage in 1'56″8 on his third attempt, and thus beat the first benchmark established from the outset by Sébastien Ogier (Citroen).

The world champion took advantage of his “opener” position on this shakedown to set a first mark in 1'56″9, and only Meeke finally came to beat the Frenchman's time from the stable to the rafters.

The latter achieves a nice group shot since Esapekka Lappi finishes 3rd in the second C3 WRC, four tenths of its leader. Next for the top 5 are the two Toyota YarisOtt Tänak and Jari-Matti Latvala, author of a small off-trajectory excursion, but without any unfortunate consequences for the Finn.

You have to look in sixth position to find trace of the first Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Thierry Neuville. The 2018 world vice-champion finished 1″6 behind Meeke and ahead of the first Ford Fiesta – M-Sport Ford by Teemu Suninen.

Elfyn Evans (M-Sport Ford), Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) and Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) complete the top 10. The Frenchman started cautiously, being more than eight seconds behind Ogier on the first pass, before increasing the tempo and going under the 2′ mark (1’59″9) at his fourth attempt, then in 1'59″7.

Pontus Tidemand (M-Sport Ford) completes the WRC standings ahead of Kalle Rovenpera, best time in WRC2 Pro at the wheel of his Skoda Fabia R5. The ranking may still evolve.

The Monte-Carlo Rally will really begin this evening at 19:38 p.m., with the first La Bréole – Sélonnet special (20,76 km), which will be followed live on our website with our live text.

Until then, you can find detailed maps of the 2019 route, but also get our 2019 WRC Guide and 2019 Monte-Carlo Rally Guide, still available in digital version and on newsstands.

Provisional classification Shakedown Rallye Monte-Carlo 2019:

1. Kris Meeke – Sebastian Marshall (Toyota Yaris): 1’56″8
2. Sébastien Ogier – Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C3): 1’56″9
3. Esapekka Lappi – Janne Ferm (Citroën): 1’57″3
4. Ott Tänak – Martin Järveoja (Toyota): 1’57″6
5. Jari-Matti Latvala – Miikka Anttila (Toyota): 1’58″2
6. Thierry Neuville – Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe): 1’58″4
7. Teemu Suninen – Marko Salminen (Ford Fiesta): 1’58″5
8. Elfyn Evans – Scott Martin (Ford): 1’58″8
9. Andreas Mikkelsen – Anders Jaeger (Hyundai): 1’59″3
10. Sébastien Loeb – Daniel Elena (Hyundai): 1’59″7
11. Pontus Tidemand – Ola Floene (Ford): 2’02″7
12. Kalle Rovenpera – Jonne Halttunen (Skoda Fabia R5): 2’04″9